The Lifetype of Life Time: One Man’s Race-Cation Journey

When most individuals plan a trip, they consider rest, the possibility to commerce fast-paced residing for a briefly slower routine, and a blissful time period with little to no self-discipline.

For avid race-cationers like Alex Armiento, it’s fairly the other.

The finance major-turned-fitness connoisseur has been a part of the group on the famend Life Time athletic membership for 9 years. During that point, his ardour for train and wellness has flourished, blossoming from a robust curiosity right into a way of life.

“It’s not just a gym. It’s a way of life,” Alex informed me of Life Time, the place he fortunately works as a normal supervisor.

The athletic membership’s wellness-driven, health-conscious strategy now goes hand in hand with one other health phenomenon: the race-cation. With this sort of getaway, vacationers ditch their seashore towels and poolside margaritas for trainers and loads of ingesting water. The trip turns into concerning the race—not about enjoyable within the solar.

As we sat within the Middletown-Red Bank location, Alex—a five-time marathon runner—detailed his inspiring expertise with race-cations and what he has witnessed in others as they embark on their health and race-cation journeys.

“When you talk about a race-cation, I see a whole population of people traveling for these races, and then spending the weekend in that cool city exploring,” he shared.

As the variety of race-cationers has expanded, so have their exercise routines. While many athletes nonetheless concentrate on cardio and marathon working, different types of train are additionally making their mark.

Take the HYROX, which sees contributors run one kilometer and full a exercise station, with the sample repeated eight instances. Alex has competed in roughly 15 of those intense competitions, touring to numerous cities throughout the U.S. 

“When you look at endurance training in the past, it was very focused on just cardiovascular, right? Marathon runners very rarely lift weights, triathletes don’t lift weights very often,” the health fanatic stated.

“Now that’s started to transition, and you see people that are running very fast marathon times but also strength training five days a week, and then doing things like HYROX, that’s a combination of the two. It’s definitely been a transition in the fitness space in the last couple of years.”

Those who champion each cardio and weight coaching routines—hybrid athletes—are competing all throughout the globe. And as they proceed to race-cation, they construct connection and kinship.

“You start to like build this community,” Alex shared earlier than additional detailing how he connects with fellow race-cationers whereas coaching for marathons.

“The people that I’m reaching out to, to run with, maybe I’ve only met a few times, or I’ve just met through social media, but I know that they’re training for the same thing. And I’ve created relationships with people just through training for things like this, and then traveled with them to these races, so I’m creating new friendships and relationships as a result of this,” he continued.

“I think what’s great about this idea is you start to meet new people who are like-minded like you. And I’ve created so many new relationships with people through HYROXs who I’ve just met maybe once or twice, but we stay in touch through Instagram or social media to check in on each other and see how training’s going and things like that,” added the completed athlete, who has run dozens of half-marathons.

“So I think that’s the underrated part of this type of space. It really is a close-knit culture, because you truly don’t know how hard it is to train for these things until you’ve done it, and then you have mutual respect for other people that do it too.”

Alex additionally shared that his spouse and younger son have accompanied him on a few of his race-cations, thereby making the expertise even higher.

“When I go do those things, I want my family to be able to come with me,” he shared, including that they like “making it a vacation after the race so that we can enjoy ourselves and spend that time together.”

He continued, “But then I also get to accomplish something that’s important to me at the same time.”

It appears Life Time—which has additionally launched its personal health competitors, LT Games—would be the good place to coach for such races and competitions. When I requested Alex to explain the acclaimed athletic membership in a single phrase, he stated “community.” He additionally detailed its family-oriented qualities.

“We have individuals who come right here with their complete households, and so they spend 5, six, seven hours. I’ve purchasers that work from right here, their children go to the Kids Academy, they eat lunch right here, they get their haircut right here, they go to the pool right here. 

“I think we’re creating an environment that’s fitness and health-focused, that you can bring your entire family to.” 

Although his athletic accolades are already past spectacular, Alex–who trains two to a few instances per day– isn’t slowing down any time quickly.

After having run marathons in New York City, Chicago, and Jersey City, he has his sights set on Boston in 2026, adopted by London and Berlin.

“I’m planning those vacations and that time away specifically around my race schedule,” the seasoned race-cationer defined.

As we wrapped up our dialog, Alex highlighted the significance of a well-rounded wellness routine that features adequate sleep, post-workout restoration, and wholesome consuming.

“That’s why it’s great that Life Time has a sauna, cold plunge, and hot tub. That stuff is just as important as all the training. The biggest thing I’ve seen is not drinking alcohol, eating the right way, and getting good quality sleep. My performance has skyrocketed. And those are just things that I think are important, especially at Life Time.”

And as Alex expressed earlier, it’s not only a health club, however a lifestyle.

“When I speak to members and clients about how I’m being so successful, again, it’s a lifestyle, it’s not just that I’m training hard,” he emphasised. 

“Every decision I’m making is kind of geared towards a goal of mine, and that’s just how I live now.”